A new approach to generating research-quality phenology data: The USA National Phenology Monitoring System

The USA National Phenology Network (www.usanpn.org) has recently initiated a national effort to encourage people at different levels of expertise—from backyard naturalists to professional scientists—to observe phenology and contribute to a national database that will be used to greatly improve our understanding of spatio-temporal variation in phenology and associated phenological responses to climate change. Many phenological observation protocols identify specific single dates at which individual phenological events are observed, but the scientific usefulness of long-term phenological observations can be improved with a more carefully structured protocol. At the USA-NPN we have developed a new approach that directs observers to record each day that they observe an individual plant, and to assess and report the state of specific life stages (or phenophases) as occurring or not occurring on that plant for each observation date. Observations of animal phenophases are similarly recorded, although for a species as a whole rather than for a specific individual. Evaluation is phrased in terms of simple, easy-to-understand, questions (e.g. “Do you see open flowers?”) which makes it appropriate for a broad audience. From this method, a rich dataset of phenological metrics can be extracted, including the duration of a phenophase (e.g. open flowers), the beginning and end points of a phenophase (e.g. traditional phenological events such as first flower and end flowering), multiple distinct occurrences of phenophases within a single growing season (e.g multiple flowering events, common in drought-prone regions), as well as quantification of sampling frequency and observational uncertainties. The system also includes a mechanism for translation of phenophase start and end points into standard traditional phenological events to facilitate comparison of contemporary data collected with this new “phenophase status” monitoring approach to historical datasets collected with the “phenological event” monitoring approach. These features greatly enhance the utility of the resulting data for statistical analyses addressing questions such as how phenological events vary in time and space, and in response to global change

Cost-utility analysis of direct-acting antivirals for treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 and 6 in Vietnam

Objective: Very few cost-utility analyses have either evaluated direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) on hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 6 patients or undertaken societal perspective. Recently, DAAs have been introduced into the Vietnamese health insurance drug list for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) treatment without empirical cost-effectiveness evidence. This study was conducted to generate these data on DAAs among CHC patients with genotypes 1 and 6 in Vietnam. Methods: A hybrid decision-tree and Markov model was employed to compare costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of available DAAs, including (1) sofosbuvir/ledipasvir, (2) sofosbuvir/velpatasvir, and (3) sofosbuvir plus daclatasvir, with pegylated-interferon plus ribavirin (PR). Primary data collection was conducted in Vietnam to identify costs and utility values. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were estimated from societal and payer perspectives. Uncertainty and scenario analyses and value of information analyses were performed. Results: All DAAs were cost-saving as compared with PR in CHC patients with genotypes 1 and 6 in Vietnam, and sofosbuvir/velpatasvir was the most cost-saving regimen, from both societal and payer perspectives. From the societal perspective, DAAs were associated with the increment of quality-adjusted life-years by 1.33 to 1.35 and decrement of costs by $6519 to$7246. Uncertainty and scenario analyses confirmed the robustness of base-case results, whereas the value of information analyses suggested the need for further research on relative treatment efficacies among DAA regimens. Conclusions: Allocating resources for DAA treatment for HCV genotype 1 and 6 is surely a rewarding public health investment in Vietnam. It is recommended that the government rapidly scale up treatment and enable financial accessibility for HCV patients

Home Mission Monthly

Valdosta State University Archives and Special Collections Rarebooks: Civil Rights Papers. Home Mission Monthly. April 1922 Woman’s Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the USA. This Presbyterian missions magazine was aimed at better race relationships. Articles include: The Springtime of a Race, The Part of the Church, The Negro in Industry, Climbing Jacob's Ladder, Promoters of Good Will and more. #13024 $25.00 1922 U-AFAmPaper --- UUID: 2077A3CD-041E-4D6D-9B37-E3A860211835

Decision-Tree Structures and Their Impact on Similarity Judgment and Replacement Choices

This paper explores how the decision-making structure impacts consumers' preferences for a replacement option (when the originally chosen option is unavailable). We find that consumers tend to stick with attribute levels that were chosen earlier in the decisionmaking process. 17 studies explore different underlying mechanisms and support a categorization-similarity process